This entrepreneur opened a lingerie boutique and made a pretty profit. Plus, Joy-Embry reveals five mistakes you never want to make!

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Her smart move: Growing up in Los Angeles and then working as a photographer in San Francisco, Joy-Embry was used to life in the fast lane. But by 1993, the city girl was ready for a change, so she packed up and moved to Wyoming. "I'd been taking road trips there for years," says Joy-Embry, now 45. "I felt spiritually connected to the state." For the first three years, she worked at a lingerie store. Just before it closed down, she realized what she wanted from her new life: a business to call her own. And because she had learned a lot from her experience, she decided on lingerie.

Creating her store's style: After she rented space and ordered merchandise, Joy-Embry needed to develop an atmosphere for the shop (which, in a nod to her Great Dane, she named Ella's Room). "Trying on lingerie can be intimidating," says Joy-Embry. "So I knew everything about the place had to be warm and inviting." She worked with a designer to create a delicate logo to print on shopping bags, receipts and other items. Then she asked her mom to help with decorating. "She has a great sense of interior design," Joy-Embry explains. So Mom flew in from Los Angeles and helped pick out the boutique's plush carpet and velvety furniture. Her parents also supplied $8,000 in start-up money, which Joy-Embry added to the $15,000 in savings that she was investing. Ella's Room opened just before Valentine's Day in 1998.

The bottom line: Today, store sales reach about $250,000 annually (Joy-Embry paid her parents back after the first year), and she's opening a second location, in Boise, Idaho.

Picking her merchandise: Three times a year, Joy-Embry meets with designers and salespeople in Los Angeles showrooms to decide what she wants to order. (In addition to lingerie, she sells robes, sleepwear and more.) "It's all about how the item feels," she says. "And it has to be top quality."

Her best advice: Choose a convenient location. "People won't go out of their way to find your business."

An intimate detail: Joy-Embry loves to help customers feel beautiful. "It's not just about looking sexy for their husbands," she says. "I've helped women who've had mastectomies pick the right bra. I've helped women with weight issues. It's all very personal."

If someone were opening her own store, much like you opened your lingerie shop, Ella's Room, what are five mistakes you'd warn her against making?1. Taking on too many loans and getting into big debt. It's better that you be financially secure when you're starting out.2. Skimping on your store's atmosphere. That expression "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" is true. You want people to remember your store's environment and come back.3. Giving too much authority to an employee right away. It's very important to establish yourself as a personable and caring owner -- who's actually around!4. Ignoring community events. Town meetings and social gatherings are your chance to meet and get to know potential clients -- and their chance to know you.5. Closing early and taking too many "be-back-in-a-minute" breaks. You may think that's okay in the beginning, when your business may be slow. But before you know it, your store may gain the reputation for "never being open." And a bad reputation spreads quickly.

You said that you shouldn't give too much authority to an employee right away. How did you even know it was time to hire your first employee?
When I came down with the flu and couldn't afford to be closed for five days! Seriously, it depends on how much you can handle on your own. If you need help and you can afford an employee, hire one.

Any tips for hiring an employee?
Do it very carefully! Especially if your business is particularly vulnerable to employee theft, like mine is. I interview candidates and then go by intuition.

You say you have a low overhead -- any special tricks to keeping it down?
Watch your advertising budget. Stay focused on your target audience, even though it's tempting to invest a lot of money beyond them.